Scottish Borders Council Held up as Scottish Exemplar
An in-depth best ‘Best Value’ audit of Scottish Borders Council has returned a glowing report.
The Scottish Borders Council was held up as Scottish exemplar by the Accounts Commission, who are recommending many of the practices and structures now in place at Newtown St Boswells are copied by other councils in Scotland.
Jo Armstrong, chair of the watchdog organisation, commented: “It’s principally about restructuring some back-office functions to make sure its front-line services are not affected, and they have delivered more than their projected savings, so that’s a good news story.”
“They have a strategic people plan in place, and the good news is in how they have been innovative in how they improve and make sure they have the capacity and right skills in place – an exemplar for other local authorities.”
How can Scottish Borders Council improve further?
On where the local council can improve, the report highlights more work is needed to engage the community in priority-setting.
Ms Armstrong added: “It’s something we’re saying to all local authorities, that as challenges increase, demand keeps rising and finances get increasingly stretched, there’s a real need to make sure communities are fully engaged and have a chance to influence where priorities are met, and savings are to be delivered.”
“I’m not going to say it’s an easy ride from here, because of the financial challenges all local authorities are facing, but they [Scottish Borders Council] are rising to the challenge and for our mind the Borders council have developed an approach that is innovative and one we would like other local authorities to be looking at.”
”"...OK, we may have a funding problem but let’s look at how we can be innovative"
Euan JardineScottish Borders Council Leader
Euan Jardine, Scottish Borders Council leader, welcomed the report.
“It is very pleasing to hear,” he said. “One thing I’ve always said since I became leader was ‘let’s look at things differently – OK, we may have a funding problem but let’s look at how we can be innovative.”
“We’re in a modern world and need modern thinking and I think that’s what this report has shown – that we’re not looking back to see what kind of council we were and how we did things in the 1980s and 90s, we’re pushing forward in a modern world, working with partners we have in the Borders now, and further afield, to find modern solutions.”
